It's no secret that the Trump administration has been ending romantic relationships since President Trump was elected in 2016 (and probably even during the election). Couples, especially millennial couples, can't seem to get past their political differences when it comes to this presidency. But Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have made it work. Their secret? Open minds.
“I let [Kanye] be who he wants to be. I let him have his own views and opinions, even if they’re different than mine,” Kardashian West said during an interview on the Alec Baldwin Show Sunday.
A few months ago, West tweeted about owning a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat that he had signed by President Trump. And then he continued to tweet his support of the president, who has a track record of negative comments and policies that affect people of color and many other marginalized groups. While Kardashian West can live and let live, West's fans aren't always so forgiving. Some have "broken up" with the rapper over political views he has expressed in support of President Trump and the administration, and some fans have gone as far to claim that the old Kanye is dead.
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Kardashian West told Baldwin that although she doesn't agree with everything that West believes, she tries to understand where he's coming from. “I think it’s just having an open mind. I love to let my husband be who he is,” Kardashian West said. “We definitely have conversations if I don’t understand something in private and talk about that.”
But not all couples have the same open conversations. Or, their conversations contribute to a decision to part ways. Politics tend to be an important factor in romantic partnerships, according to a survey of more than 18 million married couples. A majority of the couples polled were married to like-minded people when it came to politics: 55% were Republicans married to Republicans or Democrats married to Democrats, and 15% were Independent married to Independent. About 30% were labeled as a "mis-matched partisan pair," meaning they had different political views. Often, a mismatch in such values makes open communication more difficult, and that may be why so many online daters are now including lines like "If you voted for Trump, swipe left," in their profiles.
Political differences are difficult to handle, but the Kardashian-Wests are making a case for listening to each other's points of view and loving each other even if they disagree. “I grew up in a household where [Caitlyn], my step[parent], had one political view and maybe my real father had a different political view, or my mom,” Kardashian West said on the show. “We would just always talk about it and be really open about it. It was always okay to have different views.”